Annual Parish Meeting 2022 Reports - Local organisations

1st Altarnun Brownies

Established for for over 40 years and current Brownie leader Lyn Jones is now in her 30th year in charge. Our 7 to 10 year old young ladies are in good hands and having a great time undertaking many and varied activities such as instructional visits and joint initiatives with the Girl Guides. While only 9 on the register at present, Lyn is expectant of more joining shortly. 

Altarnun Twinning Association

1. Altarnun and Gueltas celebrated 10 years of Twinning in 2019 and the Anniversary exchange trip to Gueltas in September 2019 was the last formal Twinning Association visit before Covid regulations made it impossible to organise further exchanges.

2. The French are due to visit Altarnun in 2022 or 2023 but Brexit has made it more difficult for the French as they were able to enter UK on their Identity Cards pre-Brexit but now require a full passport which the majority of Gueltasiennes do not possess. It is likely that there will be a joint visit to somewhere in France rather than an exchange visit by the French to Altarnun in the immediate future.

3. There have been private visits by Dave and Gabby Maddison to the UK and Altarnun residents to Gueltas since restrictions eased.

4. Over the last two years considerable effort has been put into establishing a strong bond between the schools but Covid, staff changes at both schools and the need to help children in both schools to catch up after Covid lock downs has impacted progress.

5. As well as articles from Gueltas in Tre Pol Pen there are news articles in the Gueltas Bulletin from Altarnun. The Mairie in Gueltas receive a copy of Tre Pol Pen by post each month and are keen to promote the links between our communities.

6. The Twinning bond remains strong but both the ATA and Gueltas Jumelage organisations will need to adapt to the Post Brexit and Post Covid realities to maintain and strengthen links. The association has a small cash reserve but would need to fundraise to provide hospitality for the next exchange visit from the Gueltas.

Altarnun Walkers

1. The Altarnun walkers are a loose association of likeminded individuals who meet on a Thursday for a walk of about 4 miles usually within 10 miles of Altarnun.

2. The group has about 25 active members with most walks attracting 12-14 walkers.

3. From May 2021 – April 2022 there were only 4 walks lost to weather. The previous year over half of the walks were cancelled due to Covid.

4. The group remains strong and will continue as long as there are walk leaders.

Altarnun Local History Society

1. ALHS has 25 members and restarted regular monthly meetings in July 2021 following 15 meetings being cancelled because of Covid restrictions. The varied programme of speakers has proved popular with members there have been visitors from adjoining parishes at several meetings.

2. Finding good speakers at affordable rates remains a challenge for the Society but member evenings when members share the results of their own research are both popular and low cost.

3. Membership subs will need to increase in 2022-23 to cover increased costs but the society is confident that the level of local interest in history and varied programme will allow the association to thrive.

4. The association holds an archive of documents and photographs relating to the parish which is stored safely in the over stage storage area at the hall. There is also a digital archive stored securely in cloud storage consisting of scanned photographs and documents and computer files. Both archives require sorting and indexing. The archive is growing as residents find interesting pictures, press cuttings and documents and, through the ‘Altarnun in Old Pictures’ feature in Tre Pol Pen add information to archive records.

5. The association tries to ensure that old original documents are stored for the future and works with Cornwall Archives to ensure that important items are transferred to their archive stores for professional conservation and preservation. Scans and copies of any documents sent to Cornwall Archives are kept in the ALHS archive.

Tre Pol Pen – Altarnun Parish News

1. Established as an independent, paid for, community magazine in February 2006, it is both a parish newsletter carrying regular updates from clubs and societies and a source of entertainment with wide ranging general interest articles and a selection of puzzles.

2. The first pandemic lock down triggered a dip in sales, but they have returned to almost pre-pandemic levels during 2022 with a monthly print run of 180 copies.

3. Financially the magazine is secure. The policy that the magazine covers all its production costs from sales and advertising income with any profits going to reserves to deal with unanticipated events and provide support to community projects. The magazine has helped fund the Christmas lights in the village for the last few years and hopes to be able to continue to do so.

4. Printing costs have risen dramatically since February 2022 (ink and paper in particular) and a cover price and advertising rate increase is planned from January 2023 to ensure financial sustainability.

5. The magazine does need to strengthen its production team to ensure long term stability and, as current members of the team retire, continuity

Altarnun Village Hall

1. Following 2 years of severe disruption of village activities the hall has almost returned to its pre-pandemic level of bookings.

2. The provision of government grants for Covid disruption and the prudent management of the hall has ensured that the hall remains financially secure with cash reserves to ensure its long term viability.

3. The hall committee has ringfenced reserves in a sinking fund for long term major maintenance projects (hall roof and windows) and in a ‘Green Fund’ to allow the hall to migrate to a low carbon heating and lighting infrastructure in due course.

4. Funds have been set aside to refurbish the main porch in August this year (estimated £7000) following the successful refurbishment of the fire exit porch in 2021. Free reserves to meet unanticipated short term essential repairs etc are considered adequate.

5. The hall’s running costs (cleaning, utilities, insurances, routine maintenance) have increased substantially and, to comply with the long term policy of hire income covering the running costs of the hall, rates will increase in November 2022 from £5 per hour to, a still very competitive, £6 per hour.

6. The hall will continue to finance significant improvement and refurbishment projects by using a blend of reserves, project fundraising and grant funding in the most effective way.

7. The Village Hall committee continues to represent the user groups and with co-opted members and elected officers and maintains the hall to a high standard.

8. All routine maintenance, statutory inspections and health and safety inspections have been completed as scheduled intervals. There have been no accidents or incidents at the hall requiring intervention or having health or safety policy implications.

9. The hall sum insured has recently been checked and the policy adjusted to fully reflect rebuild costs.

10.As a charity, the hall’s statutory declarations and reporting to the Charity Commission are up to date.

11.The Village Hall committee is continuing to promote shows from Carn To Cove with the next being a shadow puppet show primarily for the school children in June. The Twisted Tales show on November 6^th 2021 made a small profit which was allocated to the general reserve.